This week we take a look at Bridget’s, a third year Geographer at Homerton, dissertation about using GIS to study glacier landsystems at Svalbard!
What is your dissertation about?
My dissertation is about glacier landsystems. It involves studying the landforms created by a particular glacier in Svalbard, both under the sea and on land, and using this to see what I can infer about that glacier’s past movements and behaviour, including whether the glacier is likely to have surged in the past.
Why is this important?
Looking at glacier landsystems gives us an insight into past glacial processes that are sometimes difficult to study as they happen, for example processes underneath the glacier. This really helps our understanding of the behaviour of glaciers and so it is easier to model accurately what might happen to them in the future. In particular, identifying if a glacier is surge-type can be interesting because it lets us know whether it may surge again in the future, and whether we can use its past front position as a climate proxy or not.
How did you find conducting your research remotely?
My dissertation was always going to be desk-based, so I’m lucky in that I didn’t have to change many of my plans. I’m using remote sensing, including DEMs and bathymetry data, to map and measure landforms around the glacier. I’m hoping to combine this with archive maps or old aerial photographs that will help me map the glacier’s retreat. I’m still working on it, but so far it’s been a really interesting journey!
What would be your advice to current second years planning their dissertation?
Don’t panic! I had absolutely no idea what I was going to be doing my dissertation on this time last year, and it was only over the Christmas break and over Lent term that I started to solidify my ideas. There are loads of resources and people who can help you and you’ll definitely be able to come up with something eventually, so don’t worry if you don’t have anything yet. Doing remote fieldwork is a challenge, but it’s also an exciting opportunity to do some things you wouldn’t have done before, so have fun!
Banner Image Credit: De Geer, G., 1910. Guide de l’excursion au Spitsberg: Excursion A1 (Guide to excursions on Spitsbergen: Excursion A1), paper presented at XI International Geological Congress. Exec. Comm., Stockholm.
Quote Image Credit: Sophie John
DISCLAIMER: THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR ONLY AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE VIEWS OR OPINIONS OF COMPASS MAGAZINE AS A WHOLE OR THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY.